“Will the military pay for me to earn my college degree online before I leave the service?”

The answer: Yes.

“The way things are set up, almost any serviceperson should be able to get at least an associate degree while on active duty, because of the Military Tuition Assistance,” says Manfred F. Meine, professor of public administration at Troy University in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

Military Tuition Assistance (TA) is a Department of Defense program for active-duty military soldiers and personnel.

While provisions differ between branches of service, in TA provides benefits in general cover up to $250 per credit hour, with a maximum of $4,500 per year. Using these benefits active duty soldiers can potentially get a free college degree online while serving in the military.

Five a.m. in Iraq and it’s time for Gunnery Sgt. Jose Rodriguez—a 34-year-old Marine Reservist from Orlando, Florida—to get up, log onto his computer, and start his homework.

Like many active-duty soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rodriguez has chosen to fill his off-hours with distance learning courses. He is using the Internet to do this, getting his online bachelor’s degree in criminal justice through Strayer University.

Military students who have completed distance learning college courses or in-service training may be in for an unpleasant shock when they attempt to transfer these online school credits to another college.

They may find that a new online university will not accept the online course credits or degrees they have completed.